Dev is behind me in an instant, with his bowl of stew still in his hands. He has mine, as well. He has a curious look upon his face, and he offers me my bowl. I take it back and he gestures for me to follow him. We finish the stew as he leads me into the thicket of trees, bending and twisting throughout the density and finally leading me to the front of a huge tree.
Dev turns to me. "I knews you's bin comin' fer a long time. My pa telled me about your kind..."
"My kind?" I ask, my voice trembling. For once, I feel like I have no control. I have no idea what's going on. I feel dizzy, useless.
Dev doesn't respond. He just turns and pushes aside a big rock that was at the base of the tree, revealing a wooden trap door. Dev opens it and gestures for me to get it. After a moment of hesitation, I do so, with him close behind. A wooden latter that creaks with every move is the only way down. Dev tells me that, at the end, there's a long rope, and that I should pull it. "It closes the door an' puts the rock back." He explains.
Just like he said, there's a rope, and I tug it. The light from above vanishes with a loud clunk but only for a moment. Dev has lit a rusted gas lantern, which shadows his face amusingly.
"Where are we?" I ask him, looking around. The light is dim, and it doesn't offer much of a view around us.
Dev smiles. "He always been tellin' me that time travellin' exists an' he telled me they'd come, you'd come. I always doubted him, but now I sees it's true!"
"You think I'm a time traveler?"
Dev nods. "Yes'um, I knows you is one, Kurosawa. How else you get from 2020 to 2015? Pa knewed you'd come!" He pulls me deeper, into a tunnel, leading me done. He's quick, and I can barely keep up. I need to stop and think, but Dev keeps me moving. The series of tunnels he takes me through give me flashbacks of the Underground.
Finally, he comes to a wooden door, and he opens it. There's a small room, with a huge bookcase filled with overflowing notebooks, and a desk with a beat up looking desk chair, and a small futon couch with a pillow and a blanket. Dev closes the door behind us.
"This's Pa's office. He do his work here. He know all 'bout your time travelin'."
"Dev, I'm not a time traveler."
"Quit yer lyin'; I knows a time traveler whens I sees 'un." Dev says as he sets the lantern on the desk. He sits in the desk chair and I go over and pick up a notebook from the bookcase and open it. "Oh, dun touch 'em. Pa ain't like that."
I ignore him and try to decipher the chicken scratch that is Dev's pa's handwriting. It's written in diary entries, and the first entry is dated 25th February 2009. "How far do these go back?" I inquire to Dev.
"Uh, Pa sayed he come to this island in 1993? Or 1994. I think. Dunno if them notebooks go back that far."
Suddenly, I drop the notebook on the floor and let out a scream. Dev jumps up. "What is it?" He asks me, worried.
Megumi Kurosawa -- Day Six
Dev is behind me in an instant, with his bowl of stew still in his hands. He has mine, as well. He has a curious look upon his face, and he offers me my bowl. I take it back and he gestures for me to follow him. We finish the stew as he leads me into the thicket of trees, bending and twisting throughout the density and finally leading me to the front of a huge tree.
Dev turns to me. "I knews you's bin comin' fer a long time. My pa telled me about your kind..."
"My kind?" I ask, my voice trembling. For once, I feel like I have no control. I have no idea what's going on. I feel dizzy, useless.
Dev doesn't respond. He just turns and pushes aside a big rock that was at the base of the tree, revealing a wooden trap door. Dev opens it and gestures for me to get it. After a moment of hesitation, I do so, with him close behind. A wooden latter that creaks with every move is the only way down. Dev tells me that, at the end, there's a long rope, and that I should pull it. "It closes the door an' puts the rock back." He explains.
Just like he said, there's a rope, and I tug it. The light from above vanishes with a loud clunk but only for a moment. Dev has lit a rusted gas lantern, which shadows his face amusingly.
"Where are we?" I ask him, looking around. The light is dim, and it doesn't offer much of a view around us.
Dev smiles. "He always been tellin' me that time travellin' exists an' he telled me they'd come, you'd come. I always doubted him, but now I sees it's true!"
"You think I'm a time traveler?"
Dev nods. "Yes'um, I knows you is one, Kurosawa. How else you get from 2020 to 2015? Pa knewed you'd come!" He pulls me deeper, into a tunnel, leading me done. He's quick, and I can barely keep up. I need to stop and think, but Dev keeps me moving. The series of tunnels he takes me through give me flashbacks of the Underground.
Finally, he comes to a wooden door, and he opens it. There's a small room, with a huge bookcase filled with overflowing notebooks, and a desk with a beat up looking desk chair, and a small futon couch with a pillow and a blanket. Dev closes the door behind us.
"This's Pa's office. He do his work here. He know all 'bout your time travelin'."
"Dev, I'm not a time traveler."
"Quit yer lyin'; I knows a time traveler whens I sees 'un." Dev says as he sets the lantern on the desk. He sits in the desk chair and I go over and pick up a notebook from the bookcase and open it. "Oh, dun touch 'em. Pa ain't like that."
I ignore him and try to decipher the chicken scratch that is Dev's pa's handwriting. It's written in diary entries, and the first entry is dated 25th February 2009. "How far do these go back?" I inquire to Dev.
"Uh, Pa sayed he come to this island in 1993? Or 1994. I think. Dunno if them notebooks go back that far."
Suddenly, I drop the notebook on the floor and let out a scream. Dev jumps up. "What is it?" He asks me, worried.
I turn to look at Dev, eyes wide.
"Your name isn't really Dev, is it?"
Dev's eyes narrow.
"Your name's Johnny Apple, isn't it?"